


Sherlock Steals the Light

by aderyn



Series: The Bird Diviner [2]
Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Celtic Mythology & Folklore, Creation Myth, Crows & Ravens, Folklore, Fractured Fairy Tale, Legends, Tricksters, fractured myth
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-23
Updated: 2013-06-23
Packaged: 2017-12-15 21:09:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 929
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/854085
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aderyn/pseuds/aderyn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In England tombstones are sometimes called ravenstones.<br/>Sherlock knows why.</p>
<p>In which Sherlock is a trickster and John is the sun.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sherlock Steals the Light

**Author's Note:**

> Fusion of some Celtic elements and variants of the trickster/creator myth of the Native people of the North American Pacific Northwest, [ "Raven Steals the Sun"](http://library.thinkquest.org/03oct/01010/raven.html)—and I hope respectful of both.

_“There is wisdom in a raven’s head.” – Gaelic proverb_

 

In England tombstones are sometimes called ravenstones.

Sherlock knows why.

*******

There was a time when Britain was in darkness, as Moriarty the old chieftain kept all the light for himself in his dwelling on the other side of the great forest.

The ravens lived in the dark with the other creatures of the wood, and most were content in the shadows, but Sherlock, whose feathers were white as the moon, cocked his head like the clever one he was and cried, _bored._

_Tired of finding the lost food-caches, and the hidden tracks of the wolves, and the missing nestlings, and the paths of the idiot egg-stealers_.

_I can see by the faintness at the edge of the sky that there’s light out there._

_In the dwelling of the old chieftain._

_And I’ll fly to the ends of the forest to prove it._

_No_ , said his brother Mycroft, whose feathers were white as the stars.

_Keep to the cedars and live, and I’ll give you a place at the top of the oldest tree._

_Where you can scout the world to your mind’s content._

The other ravens, white as the snow, beaked the needles in agreement.

But Sherlock turned his gleaming back, and leapt into the currents of the air, and went anyway.

*******

_Lestrade_ , he said to the standing stone that guarded the edge of the grove, _I’m off to steal the light from the old chieftain, just to prove that I can._

_Keep from the juniper berries_ , Lestrade said, _I know they’re your weakness._

_And come back home safe._

*******

Molly the moon, two days from full, looked down on Sherlock’s flight with a kind eye.

_You look sad_ , she called out to him.

_Help me,_ he said, _though I’ve never asked for anything before, and don’t like to do it._

Molly the moon loved Sherlock well, and cast the oak leaves in silver, and cast over him the protection of the eclipse, so he could find his flight.

And when he passed over the junipers they whispered to him in sweet pinenes, but he didn’t stop to eat their berries.

*******

It was a long way to the other side of the great forest, and Sherlock flew over the places of blood and death, and the carriage of his wings grew heavy, but the moon-magic was strong and his need to prove his cleverness was very great indeed.

*******

When finally he lit next to Moriarty’s lodging and crept inside, Sherlock caught sight of a magic brand burning in the firepit. 

He hopped up on a rock and croaked with delight.

_Quickly,_ he called, _come with me._

_To where, white bird_ , the firebrand called back, _I don’t even know your name._

_I know enough about you,_ Sherlock replied _, bright battle relic, conductor of light, you shine on the face of the old chieftain, but you’re alone, and a spark of what you could be. Your sister the moon is worried about you, but she can’t help you here. Come with me to the other side of the forest._

_Fantastic_ , answered the magic brand.

When Moriarty in his horned crown came to survey his hoard, Sherlock transformed himself into a cedar needle and fell to the floor.

When the chieftain was satisfied and gone, Sherlock sprang up again in bird form.

_I’m Sherlock the raven_ , he said, _come home with me_.

_You do know a few tricks don’t you_ , said the firebrand.

And Sherlock picked him up and carried him back through the smokehole into the open sky.

*******

Sherlock flew hard through the night, over the stones he knew and the trees and the old battlefields where many had died.

_I’m not dead_ , said the brand in his beak. _I’m alive again_.

And he sent his smoke into Sherlock’s wings.

Molly the full moon smiled in her perigee.

_Brother_ , she whispered.

*******

_Lestrade_ , Sherlock said to the stone at the entrance to the grove, _I’ve brought back the light._

_Sherlock,_ said Lestrade, _you’re not yet a good bird._

His Anderson-stone on the one side said nothing. His Sally-stone on the other said _look, he’s turned black from the smoke, a freak among ravens._

_Good enough_ , Sherlock called over his shoulder.

_For now._

*******

Moriarty discovered a white feather on the floor by his firepit and understood what had happened.

_A curse_ , Moriarty said, _on the raven-thief._

_Let all the ravens turn black as the night._

_Let war be named for the raven._

_Let death be named for the raven._

_Let all the stone markers bear his name._

_And one day I’ll burn his heart out._

_For daring to steal my light._

*******

_Well, little brother_ , said Mycroft in his new black suit.

_We’re well and truly cursed now. What do you have to say for yourself?_

And Sherlock cocked his head and preened for a smart reply.

But first he stretched out his neck and set the magic brand in the night sky.

And John the Sun flooded the forest with light.

_No_ , said John the Sun, _not cursed._

_Stay with me and battle the darkness of the world._

_Take with me to the battlefields._

_I teach you to care for more than cleverness._

_I’ll love you to the end of our days._

Then he shone down on Sherlock’s tired wings and healed them, and showed the silver in the black of the feathers.

_My name is also your name,_ Sherlock said, and he took his first flight in daylight.

*******

From then on Britain was half the time illuminated.

And London blinked awake in the dawn.

 

**Author's Note:**

> [ Raven Steals the Sun](http://redstarcafe.wordpress.com/2009/10/15/raven-steals-the-sun/)  
> [How Raven Stole the Sun](http://library.thinkquest.org/03oct/01010/raven.html)  
> [Raven Steals the Sun](http://www.joejack.com/ravenstealsthesun.html)  
> [Inuit Creation Myth](http://www.stavacademy.co.uk/mimir/inuitcreation.htm)  
> [Cultural Depictions of Ravens](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_depictions_of_ravens)  
> [The Four Branches of the Mabinogi](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Branches_of_the_Mabinogi)  
> [The Raven and the Crow in Celtic Myth, the Morrigan, triple goddess of battle](http://livinglibraryblog.com/?p=747)  
> [Connection between Lugh, warrior and possible sun deity, and the word for “raven"](http://www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/Lleu_Llaw_Gyffes.html)  
> [Raven vocalizations](http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Common_Raven/sounds)  
>  “Sherlock” may mean “ fair-haired,” –but the raven in the creation myths is also sometimes originally white.


End file.
